Social media reacts to the Oklahoma Sooners loss to the Kansas Jayhawks

Social media reacts to the Oklahoma Sooners 78-66 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse

It was an all too familiar feeling as the second half played out and the Oklahoma Sooners finished on the wrong end of another game inside Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas Jayhawks made the right adjustments to take the Sooners out of their game in the second half. Turnovers killed Oklahoma’s efforts once again and they couldn’t shoot themselves back into the game when it came to crunch time.

Still, this is just Oklahoma’s third loss on the season. They’ve lost to two top-10 opponents and a TCU team that was able to hang with Kansas to a two-point loss just a week ago.

Oklahoma is a good team, but they’ll have to figure out how to get some wins on the road in a Big 12 conference that isn’t going to give the Sooners anything.

After being down by just one at halftime, this loss is a tough one. However, there’s a lot of basketball left to be played down this season to put Oklahoma in a favorable position to make the NCAA tournament with a top-eight seed in March Madness.

Here’s a look at how social media reacted to the Sooners’ loss to Kansas.

More: Best photos from Oklahoma’s 78-66 loss to Kansas.

Photos from the Phog: Sooners 2nd half extends drought inside Allen Fieldhouse

After trailing by one at the half, the Sooners couldn’t stay with the Jayhawks, extending their drought inside Allen Fieldhouse.

The Oklahoma Sooners trailed at halftime by one point on the road against the Kansas Jayhawks. In a place the Sooners haven’t won since 1993, OU was off to a good start.

However, Bill Self and the Jayhawks made adjustments in the second half to take away the things that were working for the Sooners. In the end, the Jayhawks pulled away in the second half for a 78-66 win.

The Sooners dropped to 1-2 in Big 12 play and are 0-2 on the road. In both losses to TCU and Kansas, the Sooners weren’t really competitive in the second half.

Javian McCollum, who had 12 points in the first half, was held to five in the second on 1 of 3 shooting and was 0 for 2 from three.

Oklahoma has to figure out a way to win on the road. They’ve been really good at home, but in games against North Carolina, TCU, and now Kansas have struggled in the second half.

Here’s a look at the best photos from Oklahoma’s loss to Kansas.

Pair of Big 12 clashes are must-see TV on Saturday

These are the best games to check out in the Big 12 on Saturday.

The Big 12 is one of the deepest basketball conferences in the country with five teams ranked in the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll.

It certainly makes for some interesting basketball in conference play. You can add that Texas, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU, and Texas Tech are all worthy of being ranked as well. Welcome to the murderer’s row of basketball.

With the college football season finished, eyes are coming back to the hardwood just in time for the run to March. On Saturday, there are plenty of games in the Big 12 to keep an eye on but here are the best ones.

No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners at No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks

NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas Jayhawks are both coming off disappointing losses for different reasons. The TCU Horned Frogs were able to take down OU thanks to the Sooners’ inability to score consistently in an 80-71 loss. Oklahoma trailed 78-61 with under two minutes to go but only managed a 10-2 run to cut the lead to nine before the final buzzer. On the other hand, Kansas built a nice first half lead at 35-19 with under four minutes to go. The Knights outscored the Jayhawks 46-25 over the next 24 minutes of basketball.

Who will get off the snide and avoid back-to-back losses just three games into Big 12 play? Tune in for the game at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

No. 2 Houston Cougars at TCU Horned Frogs

The aforementioned TCU Horned Frogs will host the No. 2 team in the country in the early evening hours. The Houston Cougars are coming off their first loss of the season to a stingy Iowa State squad. The Cougars have averaged 75.3 points per game but were held to 22 points under that number by the Cyclones’ defense. They forced Houston to turn the ball over 16 times in that game. On the other side, you have a TCU squad that is coming off the upset victory of No. 3 Kansas, can they keep it going against No. 2 Houston? The plan should be the same as the Oklahoma matchup, keep your turnovers to a minimum while forcing the Cougs into making mistakes.

Does TCU get another huge win or does Houston rebound? Tune into that game at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Bonus Game: Kansas State Wildcats at Texas Tech Red Raiders

Olivia Raymond/For the Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jerome Tang (Kansas State) and Grant McCasland (Texas Tech) were longtime assistants for Scott Drew at Baylor, now they are adversaries. On Saturday, Texas Tech looks to extend their longest winning streak in the conference to 9 games. They are 2-0 in conference play after knocking off Texas and Oklahoma State. Kansas State is also 2-0 after wins over UCF and West Virginia.

Which team stays unbeaten in Big 12 play? Tune in at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2

How to watch, key players for No. 9 Oklahoma Men’s Basketball vs. No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks

Here is how you can watch the upcoming game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas Jayhawks.

The Oklahoma Sooners are fresh off their second loss of the season on the road against the TCU Horned Frogs. It doesn’t get any easier for the Sooners. This time, they head to a place they haven’t won in over three decades.

But if it makes fans feel any better, the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] are also coming off a loss. That game was on the road against [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] newcomer the [autotag]UCF Knights[/autotag]. This will not be an easy task, especially with the Jayhawks coming off a loss.

They don’t usually drop two straight games, especially when they are playing one of them at home.

But let’s take a look at how you can watch the game.

No. 9 Sooners fall on the road to TCU Horned Frogs 80-71

Recap of No. 9 Oklahoma’s loss in their second Big 12 conference game. The Sooners lost 80-71 to TCU.

Wednesday night was a pivotal moment in Oklahoma’s season. While it didn’t go Oklahoma’s way, the Sooners got that first road game experience. Wednesday became the second time Oklahoma has tasted defeat all year as the TCU Horned Frogs upset the Sooners 80-71.

Oklahoma entered the game off their first win in Big 12 play after beating a tough Iowa State team at home on Saturday. That same Iowa State team turned right around and beat previously unbeaten Houston on Tuesday evening.

Oklahoma has played many games on neutral courts, but the Sooners’ trip to Fort Worth was anything but inviting.

Porter Moser’s team opened the game trading baskets with TCU before the Frogs pushed out to a 27-22 lead midway through the first half. The Sooners were paced early by [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] and [autotag]Sam Godwin[/autotag]. Godwin had seven first-half points. Uzan filled the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, and six assists in the first 20 minutes.

Foul trouble and missed shots disrupted Oklahoma’s offensive rhythm in the first half, but the Sooners hung around enough to get into the locker room down 40-34.

Jameer Nelson Jr. and Emmanuel Miller paced the Horned Frogs’ scoring efforts in the first half. Nelson had nine of his 13 in the first half, while Emmanuel Miller poured in 10 of his 27 during the first 20 minutes.

Oklahoma’s 11 fouls and 12 turnovers were the story before the break.

[autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag] came out fighting as he knocked in back-to-back threes to tie the game at 40 immediately after halftime.

From there, things began to get dicey for Oklahoma. The fouls continued to pile up, and the Frogs never looked back.

The Horned Frogs answered with seven unanswered points and began to run away from the Sooners, pushing the lead to as many as 17 points late in the game. The Sooners fought back to make the score more respectable, but the proof was in the pudding. TCU seized control of the game in the final 20 minutes.

Cold-shooting couldn’t mitigate Oklahoma’s foul trouble. Le’tre Darthard was 0-6 from three, and Rivaldo Soares was 0-3 from behind the arch. The Sooners shot just 28 percent as a team from three, which will never get it done in high-major basketball.

Milkos Uzan flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 13 points, ten assists, and seven boards. John Hugley scored 14 off the bench, and Javian McCollum ended with 17 points to lead all Sooners in scoring.

It won’t get any easier for Oklahoma. They won’t be shell-shocked by a road atmosphere come Saturday as they make a trip to Lawrence, Kan., to take on the Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas lost to Big 12 newcomer UCF just before the Oklahoma and TCU game tipped off. Both teams will be desperate to get off the mat and not have to stew for the next week amid a two-game losing streak.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

Sooners top 10 in latest editon of College Wire’s Power Rankings

Oklahoma is ranked 9th in College Wire’s latest power rankings.

Oklahoma is in deep preparation for another war of a basketball game as they ready themselves for their first actual road game. They’ll take on a tough TCU Horned Frogs team coached by Jamie Dixon.

Over the weekend, Porter Moser’s squad opened up Big 12 play with a gritty win against an experienced and talented Iowa State team. The Sooners led the way thru the first 35 minutes of game time. After Iowa State took a late lead, a 7-0 run late pushed Oklahoma over the hump.

As the Sooners prepare for two Big 12 games this week, they’ll be ranked as one of the best teams in the country. Our colleagues at College Wire agree and has the Sooners at No. 9 in their most recent power rankings.

Ahead of Oklahoma at number one sits the Purdue Boilermakers, led by Zach Edey. New Big 12 member Houston is the number two team, but dropped their first game of the season Tuesday night. Behind them are the Kansas Jayhawks, long-time standard bearers of Big 12 hoops. The Sooners travel to Allen Fieldhouse for a Saturday afternoon tilt.

UConn and Arizona slot in at four and five. The only two SEC teams in the top 10 of these power rankings are Tennessee and Kentucky, who come in at six and seven, while the lone ACC representative, UNC, comes in at eight. Behind Oklahoma sits Scott Drew and his Baylor Bears tenth.

In the rest of the power rankings, BYU (18), Texas Tech (23), and Cincinnati (24) round out the rest of the Big 12 representation in the rankings.

Oklahoma faces three of the five Big 12 teams in this week’s power rankings in their next six games. The Sooners have some significant opportunities to add even more impressive wins to an already appealing tournament resume. It starts on Tuesday with a win in Fort Worth.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Bryant on Twitter @thatmanbryant.

‘I’m liking the crowd right now,’: Sooners’ players recognizing the fans impact

It hasn’t always been the case but Sooner Nation was out in full support for the opening Big 12 game and the players took notice.

The Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team opened conference play with a win over the Iowa State Cyclones. The Cyclones came into the game sitting at 11-2 on the year.

The Sooners led for just about the whole game, only losing the lead twice briefly late in the game. After losing the lead the final time with 4:10 left, the Sooners went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead and never looked back.

The Sooners shot 47.1% from the field and 40% from three in the game. [autotag]Milos Uzan[/autotag] scored 12 points on 5 of 9 from the field. The Sooners also got a great boost from the crowd.

It was a packed house at the Lloyd Noble Center which hasn’t always been the case in years past. It’s been a criticism of Oklahoma’s basketball program.

Uzan spoke after the game about how much the crowd meant to them on that 7-0 run and closing out the game. “I’m liking the crowd right now,” Uzan said. “I’m thinking the more we keep winning, the more they’ll show up. I like this.”

The Sooners now head on the road for the next two games. They head to TCU to take on the Horned Frogs on Wednesday night and then to Kansas to take on the Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon.

But this team has earned the crowd’s participation when they return home and for the rest of the season. They’ve been playing a really good brand of basketball and will need the crowd’s support the rest of the way.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Oklahoma Sooners land two on ESPN’s top 100 college football players list

It was a bounce-back season for the Oklahoma Sooners and they were awarded with two on ESPN’s top 100 college football players list.

The 2023 college football season was a season of redemption for the Oklahoma Sooners. After going 6-7 the year before, the Sooners finished 10-3 this season.

A big part of that was the improvement made by several key players, including two of their best. So, much so that ESPN listed two Sooners on their top 100 college football players list for the 2023 season: [autotag]Dillon Gabriel[/autotag] and [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag].

Prior to the season, Gabriel was No. 60 on ESPN’s list but finished 2023 at No. 28.

Gabriel has already moved on to Oregon, but he cemented his place as an Oklahoma legend when he became the first OU QB with at least 250 passing yards and 100 rushing yards against Texas, driving the Sooners 75 yards in 1:02 and throwing a 3-yard TD pass to Nic Anderson with 15 seconds left in a 34-30 win. He passed for 3,660 yards, 30 TDs and 6 INTs and ran for 373 yards and 12 touchdowns. — ESPN’s Staff

Stutsman was No. 52 in the preseason, but finished at No. 89.

Stutsman, the Sooners’ leader on defense, led OU in tackles for the second straight year, with 104 total stops, adding 3 sacks, an interception and 2 forced fumbles despite missing half of the Kansas game and all of the Oklahoma State game, both OU losses. He was named a third-team AP All-American and is bypassing the NFL draft and returning to Oklahoma next season, big news for the Sooners. – ESPN’s Staff

That ranking for Stutsman is way too low in my opinion. Also not having [autotag]Billy Bowman[/autotag] on the list is a shame. Several writers for ESPN broke down the top 100 players list, and David Hale believed Stutsman was underrated.

There are a bunch of guys in the bottom half of our list whom I’d have higher, but let me make the case for Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman. He played in 12 games, had 104 tackles (16 for a loss), two forced fumbles and a pick-six. Moreover, he was the heart, soul and personality of the Sooners’ D, a Brent Venables archetype that, frankly, Oklahoma had too few of. Besides, if you’re being compared to Brian Bosworth, you’re a top-50 player with a bright future either in the NFL or running a small sheriff’s department in a Dr. Pepper-obsessed town outside Tulsa.

He’s right. Stutsman was snubbed as a finalist for the Butkus Award all because of an injury he suffered, and he wasn’t the same the latter half of the season. That still shouldn’t take away from how dominant he was for much of the season.

It also was clear in the second half against the [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag] and the full game against the [autotag]Oklahoma State Cowboys[/autotag], the defense was not the same with him not on the field.

It’s probably not a coincidence they lost both of those games with him out although you could argue the defense wasn’t exactly the issue.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Jaron on Twitter @JaronSpor.

Kansas outlasts UNLV in Guaranteed Rate Bowl behind Jason Bean’s dominant day

The Jayhawks quarterback finished with a career-high 449 yards and six touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter, on 28 attempts.

Kansas outdueled UNLV in an offensive showdown on Tuesday, coming away with a 49-36 victory in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl after senior quarterback Jason Bean tossed six touchdowns in a career day.

Bean, who threw for 1,681 yards this season, passed for a career-high 449 yards on just 28 attempts for the night. He finished the game averaging 16.0 yards per attempt, and four of his touchdown passes came on completions longer than 40 yards.

The Jayhawks’ scoring game in waves. After not putting any points on the board until the final two minutes of the first quarter, Kansas scored three touchdowns in the next nine minutes to fly out to a 21-7 lead.

The Rebels tried hard to pull back into the game, holding Kansas scoreless in the third quarter and scoring two touchdowns to make the deficit just four points, but Kansas ripped off another heater on offense. Bean threw three touchdowns in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter, with all three touchdowns longer than 40 yards.

Jayhawks receivers Luke Grimm and Lawrence Arnold shouldn’t go unmentioned, either. The two combined for 292 yards on just 10 receptions, and they split Bean’s passing touchdowns with three apiece.

Here are the best photos from the crazy Kansas victory.

Kansas Staves Off UNLV, 49-36, At The Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Recap of UNLV vs. Kansas.

Kansas Staves Off UNLV, 49-36, At The Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Double-Digit Loss For The Rebels

Follow @michaelbraydaly & @MWCwire

UNLV Ends Season With Bowl Loss To Kansas

In a high-scoring bowl game, Kansas held on for a 49-36 win over UNLV at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Tuesday evening.

There were 85 total points scored between UNLV and Kansas. The 2015-2016 Guaranteed Rate Bowl was the last time two teams combined for 85 points in the bowl game.

Kansas jumped on UNLV in the first half and had a 28-7 lead in the first half. Despite being down by 21 points, UNLV took advantage of Kansas’s penalties. Kansas racked up 135 yards of penalties in the first half.

The momentum shifted in UNLV’s favor after halftime and the Rebels scored 17 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. Kansas quarterback Jason Bean was intercepted twice in the third quarter by UNLV defensive back Cameron Oliver.

At the start of the fourth, Kansas reclaimed a double-digit lead following Bean’s 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Lawrence Arnold. Kansas led UNLV, 35-24. UNLV quickly responded with a Jacob De Jesus 11-yard touchdown run with 12:06 to go in the game. With a failed two-point conversion, UNLV trailed by five points, 35-30.

Arnold added to Kansas’s lead following a 56-yard receiving touchdown at the 11:10 mark in the fourth quarter. Kansas was ahead 42-30.

By the end of the game, the Jayhawks capped off a 49-36 win. Even with 49 points scored, Kansas finished the game with 18 penalties.

Kansas closed out its season with a 9-4 record. For UNLV, head coach Barry Odom posted a 9-5 record in his first season. This was the most single-season wins for UNLV since 1984.

The future is promising for UNLV after the program reached a bowl game and had a winning season for the first time since 2013.

UNLV and Kansas are scheduled to meet again next season in Lawrence, Kan., on Sept. 14, 2024.